ITANAGAR, March 20: The political landscape in Arunachal Pradesh is set for a dramatic showdown as the Congress party gears up to nominate former chief minister Nabam Tuki as its candidate for the western parliamentary constituency.
As per Arunachal Times, sources within the party reveal that former AICC president Rahul Gandhi has been advocating for Tuki to contest the MP election, and an official announcement regarding his candidature is expected within the coming days.
Tuki’s potential candidacy sets the stage for an electrifying face-off with the incumbent MP Kiren Rijiju of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who has already been named as the saffron party’s nominee for the western parliamentary constituency.
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In the 2019 elections, Tuki was nominated as an MP candidate but prioritized retaining his Sagalee assembly seat, where he has served as MLA since 1991, making him one of the longest-serving legislators in the state.
The decision to field Tuki underscores the Congress’s strategy to deploy heavyweight candidates, including former chief ministers, across India in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Tuki, with his extensive political experience and popularity in the state, is expected to provide formidable competition to Rijiju.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Techi Tagi Tara has applied for the Congress ticket from the Sagalee assembly constituency, a move believed to have Tuki’s endorsement. Tara’s association with the party for an extended period adds weight to his candidacy.
“The Congress leadership and workers in the state want Tuki to single-handedly concentrate on the MP election. It becomes very difficult to fight both MP and MLA elections,” the Arunachal Times quoted a Congress insider as saying.
Techi Ratu, a retired engineer, has been announced as the BJP’s candidate from the Sagalee assembly constituency, setting the stage for a riveting contest.
Tuki is presently in Delhi, awaiting the Congress’s official announcement of candidates for the western parliamentary constituency and the 60 assembly seats in the state.
In a separate development, former minister Bosiram Siram has been named as the Congress candidate for the eastern parliamentary constituency, where he will face off against BJP’s Tapir Gao, the incumbent MP.
As anticipation builds ahead of the elections, all eyes are on the unfolding political dynamics in Arunachal Pradesh, where the battle for parliamentary and assembly seats promises to be fiercely contested.
